There was only one gate, no one could enter the tabernacle by any other way, except by this gate. Any Israelite approaching the Tabernacle, leading his sacrifice and desiring atonement, knew that there was no way to reach the bronze altar but through the gate that faced east. The gate was brightly coloured: “blue, purple and scarlet of fine twined linen wrought with needle work.”
- Blue – is the colour of heaven and speaks of Christ’s divinity. Christ was the Heavenly One, veiled in flesh, living among men (John 1:1, 14, 18; 1 Timothy 3:16).
- Purple – is the colour of royalty (Judges 8:26) and speaks of Christ’s kingly power and dignity (Philippians 2:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 11:15; and 19:11 through 20:5).
- Scarlet – is the colour of blood and speaks of Christ’s sacrifice (1 Peter 1:19-20; Acts 2:23 & 4:38).
There are many more East gates mentioned in the Bible: the East gate of the city of Jerusalem, the East gate in Ezekiel and Nehemiah’s time, the triumphant entry into Jerusalem by Jesus on Palm Sunday was believed to be through the East Gate, also his return is often foretold to be through the East Gate. Tradition holds that those buried on the mountain will be the first to be resurrected. Some of the ANZAC troops who died in WW1 liberating Jerusalem are buried in the cemetery outside the East Gate, facing East. Legend holds that Arabs sealed the Gate to prevent the Jewish Messiah from entering Jerusalem. The eastern gate pointed to Jesus as “being the only entrance to God”. John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me“”.
Jesus, as our only entrance, opened up to us the reality of our true identity.